On an extended Lagrange claim (Q5942226)

This technical note is a valuable contribution to a historical problem of calculus and optimization theory. Its roots are due to Lagrange and Peano. A claim of Lagrange led to the hypothesis that a smooth function \(f:\mathbb{R}^n\to \mathbb{R}\) has a local minimum at \(x^*\) if all the directional derivatives of \(f\) at \(x^*\) are nonnegative. About 140 years later, Peano gave an counterexample consisting of a polynomial in dimension \(n- 2\). An extended Lagrange claim formulated in this note says: A continuous \(f:\mathbb{R}^n\to \mathbb{R}\) has a local minimum at \(x^*\) if all the lower directional derivatives of \(f\) at \(x^*\) are positive. The author presents a counterexample, consisting of a piecewise defined function in dimension \(n= 2\), again. This \(f\) is not locally Lipschitzian. Now, the author states and carefully proves his main result: Let a locally Lipschitzian \(f:\mathbb{R}^n\to \mathbb{R}\) be given. If all the lower directional derivatives of \(f\) at \(x^*\) are positive, then \(x^*\) is a local strict minimum.